Let’s talk about institutional racism in New Mexico

Those calling for change have been in power 100 years

The governor’s Institutional Racism bill was never brought to the House floor for a vote during the special session. She put it on the call but didn’t use the power of her office to get it passed. This begs the question – Why?

Could it be that Democrat leaders suddenly remembered they have controlled every institution in New Mexico for nearly 100 years? State government — public education, higher education, CYFD, corrections, health care, law enforcement and both chambers of the Legislature have been dominated by one political party for a century. If these institutions are fundamentally flawed due to systemic racism, they broke it – they own it.

Recently, ProgressNow N.M. asked Albuquerque City Councilor Pat Davis to resign because he failed to meet their “anti-racist” standards. This ultraleft group has anointed itself judge and jury in labeling who is racist and who isn’t, but what exactly did it learn about Davis in 2020 that it didn’t know about him all the years he ran their organization?

Regardless, Pat Davis is one of the most radical leftists in our state, and according to ProgressNow, by refusing to resign he continues “upholding racist institutions.” I wonder if, or when, leftist activists will look more closely at U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, N.M. Rep. Brian Egolf, N.M. Sen. Peter Wirth, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller and Santa Fe Mayor Allen Webber. By the standards mandated by the radicalleft, these politicians have benefited from “white privilege.”

They have been raised in prominent families, educated at the most prestigious universities and given political power in a state boasting a 60% minority population. Three of them aren’t even from New Mexico. Heinrich, who lives in Maryland, is so privileged that he feels entitled to call for Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales’ resignation.

These are some of the most privileged people in our state, and they are responsible for our institutional norms — norms that have produced modernday red-lining that trap children in failing schools, and government assistance and tax policies that promote generational poverty by disincentivizing marriage. The No. 1 indicator a child will repeat the cycle of poverty is growing up in a broken or single-parent home.

According to N.M. Rep. Javier Martinez of Albuquerque, racism in New Mexico institutions can’t be traced to individual racists. Admitting that we have racists running our institutions is problematic for him since Democratic politicians control these institutions. Instead, he suggests institutional racism can only be fixed by spending more money.

The real problem in New Mexico is a century of political incompetence has institutionalized harmful policies which negatively affect minorities and the poor.

What a con job Democratic leaders have perpetuated on the American public. Somehow, the party of slavery, the Ku Klux Klan, Jim Crow laws and segregation has convinced nearly half of the country it is the party of civil rights. It’s no wonder it wants to tear down every statue and monument in the nation; its leaders don’t want you to remember the actual history.

The mantra of institutional racism continues to be perpetuated by influential, highly educated, very privileged and white Democrats to increase their own political power and justify increased spending and higher taxes.

I’d be happy if these white-privileged Democrats were to resign. Not because of their “whiteness” or their privilege, but because the policies they promote have led New Mexico to the bottom of nearly every ranking in the nation. Now that I think about it, there likely is a connection between the privilege these leaders were born into and the poor outcomes forced upon the minorities under their rule.